Infy promoters offer shares worth ~2,038 cr for buyback

Infosys promoters, including co-founders N R Narayana Murthy and Nandan Nilekani, have offered to sell as many as 17.7mn shares, worth up to ~2,038 crore, in the company's ~13,000-crore buyback offer.

The promoters group, which includes most of the founders and their families, have expressed their intention to be a part of the company’s first buyback plan in its over three-decade history and have offered to tender a maximum of 17.7mn shares.

At a buyback price of ~1,150 per share, this could mean a windfall of ~2,038.94 crore for the promoter group, if all the shares tendered by them are accepted in the buyback offer. The founders and families, classified as promoters group, held 292.8 crore shares, or 12.75 per cent, in Infosys at the end of June 2017.

The Bengaluru-based firm has been in the eye of a storm over the past few months, with founders and erstwhile board members clashing over allegations such as corporate governance lapses and irregularities in Infosys' $200-million Panaya acquisition. The spat, often public, culminated in the sudden resignation of then CEO Vishal Sikka and exit of four board members, including Chairman R Seshasayee. They blamed Murthy's "misguided campaign" for Sikka's abrupt exit.

Infosys, on August 24, named cofounder Nandan Nilekani as its new nonexecutive chairman, bowing to the demands of co-founders and large institutional investors.

However, the tensions between the two camps do not seem to be subsiding as Seshasayee launched another offensive last week against alleged "personal attacks" by Murthy. Infosys’ buyback offer of up to 113mn shares comes at an almost 25 per cent premium over Friday's closing price of ~920.10 a share. The record date is expected to be on or after October 25, 2017.

The two key players in Infosys' changing narrative - Nilekani and Murthy along with families - have offered to tender maximum number of shares in the buyback.

Nilekani, along with family, has offered to tender 5.8mn shares. Murthy, along with wife Sudha and two children, has put over 5.4mn shares on the block.